Holden Dealer Team

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HDT
Manufacturer Holden, later BMW & Ford
Team Principal Harry Firth (69-77), John Sheppard (78-79), Peter Brock (80-87)
Team Manager Harry Firth (69-77), John Sheppard (78-79), Peter Brock (80-81), Grant Spears (82-86), Graham Browne (87)
Race Drivers (Touring Cars) Peter Brock, Colin Bond, John Harvey, Charlie O'Brien, Larry Perkins, David Parsons, Gary Scott, Jim Richards, Neil Crompton, Brad Jones, Andrew Miedecke, Tony Roberts, Des West, Peter Macrow, Henk Woelders, Sandra Bennett, Christine Gibson, Bob Morris, Doug Chivas, Leo Geoghegan, Bob Skelton, Brian Sampson, John Walker, Wayne Negus, Ron Harrop, Vern Schuppan, Phil Brock, David Oxton, Allan Moffat, Neal Lowe, Jon Crooke, Peter McLeod, Kent Baigent, Graeme Bowkett, Andy Rouse, Paul Radisich, Tomas Mezera, Manuel Reuter, Troy Dunstan, John Cleland, Steve Harrington,
Chassis Holden Monaro (HT), Holden Torana (LC, LJ, LH, LX), Holden Commodore (VB, VC, VH, VK, VK Group A SS, VL Group A SS, VN Group A SS, VP), BMW M3, Ford Sierra
Debut 1969
Drivers' Championships 4
Round wins 38
Pole positions
1993 position 8th (Brock)

The Holden Dealer Team was Holden’s un-official racing team from 1969 until 1987, primarily contesting Australian Touring Car events but also branched out into rallying. The team also dabbled in rallycross and sports sedans during the 1970’s. From 1980 the Holden Dealer Team, under the leadership of Peter Brock, also produced modified high-performance road going Commodores which continued until a highly publicised dispute between Brock and Holden. The racing team continued until 1993.

Contents

[edit] The Firth Years

After showing an increasing interest in motorsport during the 1960s, Holden decided to form a team to enter both Touring Car and Rallying events in 1969. However, Holden’s parent company, General Motors forbade its manufacturers from officially entering motor sport events. Holden was able to circumvent this regulation by naming its team the ‘Holden Dealer Team’ which was officially owned by its dealers. In reality Holden bankrolled the entire operation and hired former Ford team manager Harry Firth in order to manage the operation.

Firth hired two talented, but untested drivers Colin Bond and Peter Brock. These two drivers would form the backbone of the team over the next few years. At that year's Bathurst 500 the team entered three Monaro GTS 350’s and tasted immediate success, finishing first and third, with Bond winning with co-driver Tony Roberts, while Brock finished third with Des West.

However Firth became concerned at the development of rival Ford’s powerful Falcon GTHO and instead of trying to develop a more powerful car, he opted to run a much smaller Holden Torana with a 6-cylinder engine. The X-U1 Torana’s were a match for the larger and more powerful GTHO’s at most circuits, but at Bathurst with its long straights the car was less competitive, and Ford’s Allan Moffat dominated both the 1970 and 1971 events. However in 1972 the Dealer Team scored a major upset, with Brock winning the first of his nine Bathurst victories.

[edit] V8 Torana

In 1974 Holden released the larger but significantly more powerful SLR/5000 Torana. Brock dominated the Australian Touring Car Championship, using both older Torana GTR XU-1 and the new SLR/5000. Both Brock and Bond suffered engine problems with the new L34 variant of the SLR/5000 at Bathurst, putting them out when they seemed to be in an unassailable position. At the end of the season Brock left the team and ran a privateer Torana, while Bond continued on as the teams main driver. Bond, who had also captured Australian Rally Championships in 1971, 1972 and 1974 for the Dealer Team, won the Touring Car Championship in 1975. He also finished third in the 1975 Bathurst 1000 and second in the 1976 event.

Bond left to join Alan Moffat’s semi-works Ford team in 1977. John Harvey, was taken on to replace him. That season also saw the debut on the soon to be dominant Torana A9X, but due to teething troubles, the Holden Dealer Team struggled against Moffat’s Ford Team, with Moffat taking the title and a crushing 1-2 formation finish at Bathurst. Other drivers during this period were Western Australian Wayne Negus and Queenslander Charlie O'Brien. Firth decided to leave the team at the end of the season and he was replaced by John Sheppard.

[edit] John Sheppard takes over

One of the first moves made by Sheppard was to bring Brock back to the team. It was a wise decision for Brock dominated the season, becoming the first driver to win the 'triple crown' of the Touring Car Championship, the Sandown 500 and the Bathurst 1000 (with Jim Richards).

Brock was narrowly defeated by privateer Torana driver Bob Morris for the 1979 championship, but made went on to dominate the Bathurst 1000. Brock qualified on pole position, he and Richards lead every lap of the race, Brock set a new lap record on the very last lap of the race and they won by a massive six-lap margin.

The Holden Dealer Team also entered a three-car Commodore team in the Round Australia Rally. Anxious to prove the then new cars reliability, the cars were perfectly prepared and finished first, second and third. Brock, who won the event along with co-drivers Matt Phillip and Noel Richards, cited this event as his career highlight.

[edit] The Brock era

Despite the success, by 1980 Holden was ready to pull the pin on the Holden Dealer Team. They believed there was no longer any point in competing against privateer teams driving Holden cars, and they put the team up for sale. Peter Brock purchased the team, and in order to finance it, called on Holden dealers to support him. In return for providing assistance, Brock would build a special range of modified, high performance Commodores for the dealers to add to their range. (See section on HDT Special Vehicles below). For the first time, the team really was a 'Dealer Team'. Meanwhile, John Sheppard left the team so Brock also took over the management of the racing team.

Despite the off track changes, the Holden Dealer Team remained as competitive as ever, with Brock claiming a second 'triple crown'. This time his Bathurst adventure was less straightforward. Chasing Dick Johnson's Falcon XD early in the race, Brock collided with a back marker. The damage was only minor but Brock went a lap down whilst his car was repaired. Soon after however, Johnson hit a rock on the top of the mountain and was out of the race, and Brock and Richards fought their way back throughout the day to score a come from behind win.

While the Holden Dealer Team was unable to win another Touring Car Championship, the team maintained its excellent Bathurst record over the next few years. Brock won Bathurst again in 1982 with former Formula 1 driver Larry Perkins, and again in controversial circumstances in 1983. The rules at the time permitted 'cross-entering' which meant that after Brock's car dropped out with an engine failure, both Brock and Perkins transferred into John Harvey's car. The trio then went on to win the race. The following year the HDT made it three in a row, finishing first and second in their striking International Marlboro liveried cars.

[edit] Group A

In 1985 Australian touring car racing now ran under International Group A formula, rather than the indigenous Group C regulations that had been in force since 1973. This led indirectly to the Holden Commodores becoming less competitive against the imported Nissans, Volvos and BMWs. Despite struggling during the season, Brock nearly pulled off an upset podium at Bathurst, retiring due to a broken timing chain late in the race while running a strong second. By 1986 the car was much more competitive, and Brock was able to sign long time rival Allan Moffat to the team. The HDT, taking advantage of Group A regulations, also ran a European Touring Car Championship program. Due to the liberal nature by which European regulators enforced the rules, the HDT was not as competitive as they hoped, but they still achieved some successes, such as co-winning the Kings Cup team's prize at the Spa 24 Hours with Graeme Bailey's Chickadee Racing team.

By 1987 the relationship between Brock and Holden had soured, primarily over the controversial 'energy polarizer' device Brock was installing in the HDT road cars (see below). Moffat and Harvey both left the team, HDT's 1987 international campaign was limited to an assault on Spa and team did not pose a threat in that year's championship. That year the Bathurst 1000 was a round of the World Touring Car Championship and Rudi Eggenberger's Texaco Sierras dominated the race. Brock's own racecar failed early but he and co-driver David Parsons cross-entered into the teams second car, driven by Peter McLeod and made up ground in the wet conditions, and eventually finished in third place behind the two Texaco Sierras. Ten months later, the Sierras were disqualified for running illegal bodywork and Brock, Parsons and McLeod became the victors.

[edit] Advantage Racing

The team continued under the direction of Alan Gow under the banner of Advantage Racing, with continued support from Mobil, but without the assistance of Holden, new automotive partners had to be found. BMW was enticed away from the Frank Gardner run team but by 1988 the BMW M3 was no longer competitive and Brock, Jim Richards and emerging talent Neil Crompton found themselves fighting for scraps against the onslaught of Ford Sierras. By the 1989 ATCC season Brock was forced into the unthinkable and spent the next two years racing Fords, Sierra RS500s, supplied in kit form by Andy Rouse. Limited budget forced the team into a merger with Miedecke Motorsport in 1990.

The venture with Ford was not without success, with race wins returning and coming within a few points of winning the 1990 Australian Touring Car Championship. Another highlight was pole position at Bathurst in 1989. Budgetry constraints again forced the team into a technical alliance with Perkins Engineering for the 1991 season, bringing with it a return to Holden, running the VN SSGroupA, however this was the highpoint for the Nissan Skyline turbo in Group A, leaving Brock and Larry Perkins again scrabbling for points rather than podiums.

The alliance with Perkins lasted just a single season, and Advantage continued through into the beginning of the V8 Supercar era with Commodores with modest success until he reconciled with Holden and was invited to join Holden's new official racing team, the Holden Racing Team in 1994. At this point Advantage disbanded, the last remnants of the Holden Dealer Team going separate ways.

[edit] Brock HDT Special Vehicles

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Please improve this article if you can. (September 2006)

The cars built by the Holden Dealer Team for road use quickly gained an enthusiastic following. The program was under Peter Brock's direction and had approval from Holden. Several highly modified high-performance road-going Commodores were produced through the early and mid 1980s. Some were "homologation specials" produced to meet the Group A racing regulations. Models included the VC Group C, the VH SS Group III with a 0-100 km/h of 6.7 seconds (the quickest Brock of all according to Modern Motor Magazine - Jan 1983), the Blue VK SS Group A and the burgundy VL SS Group A. These vehicles are all individually numbered with only 4246 Brock HDT's made and are considered to be collectors' items due to their rarity.

HDT and Brock's association with Holden ended sensationally in 1987, after Brock began fitting a device known as the "Energy Polarizer" to HDT vehicles. Regarded as pseudoscience by Holden and the vast majority of the Australian motoring community, a new model was then built to house the new idea, The Director, and it was a flop. Holden ended its association because it felt that there was no evidence for the device's efficacy and being unable to try The Director before it's launch. Holden then set up Holden Special Vehicles , which took over the role of producing factory-approved modified Commodores for road and racing.

[edit] Legacy and collectibility

The HDT Commodores have a substantial place in Australian motoring enthusiast history, and thus they are highly collectible. It is not uncommon to see these vehicles selling for over $60,000 for a clean genuine example or even between $80-150,000 for an extremely low km example.

After the death of Brock, HDT vehicles became more collectable than ever. According to the Australian 5/2007 Wheels Magazine showroom condition cars are generating prices as high as $200,000 AU

[edit] HDT Vehicles

  • VC Brock - 5.0 ltr
  • VH SS GROUP I - 4.2 ltr or 5.0 ltr
  • VH SS GROUP II - 4.2 ltr or 5.0 ltr
  • VH SS GROUP III - 5 ltr, 185 kW, 6.7 sec 0-100 km/h
  • VK SS - 5.0 ltr
  • VK SS GROUP III - 5.0 ltr
  • VK SS GROUP A - 4.9 ltr 190 kW, 6.9 sec 0-100 km/h
  • VK DIRECTOR
  • VL SS GROUP III
  • VL SS GROUP A
  • VL DIRECTOR

[edit] References